A North Highlands man was arrested early this morning after deputies chased his vehicle onto the freeway at speeds that authorities say topped 100 mph and used a tack strip to stop the car. The attempted traffic stop began at about 2 a.m. in the Watt Avenue corridor, and the pursuit continued onto the freeway before the vehicle was brought to a halt. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office provided photos of the scene and said deputies took the driver into custody.
According to KCRA, deputies attempted to pull over a vehicle for speeding and multiple traffic violations near Watt Avenue and Don Julio Boulevard before the driver — identified by the department as 57-year-old Kenneth Earl Steinberger — fled. The pursuit reached speeds of more than 100 mph on the freeway, the sheriff's office said, and deputies deployed a tack strip to help end the chase. The sheriff's office reported Steinberger was arrested at the scene and later booked into the county jail.
Chase policy and local context
California law requires agencies to adopt uniform guidelines and training for high-speed pursuits and to weigh public-safety risks before continuing a chase; see California Penal Code Section 13519.8 on Justia. Locally, pursuits remain a recurring public-safety issue — for example, a recent 20-mile chase ended on the UC Davis campus earlier this year, as reported by Hoodline. Debate over when officers should pursue fleeing drivers has intensified after several chase-related crashes, as per a report by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Arrest and booking
The sheriff's office says the driver was taken into custody and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail, as stated by KCRA. The county lists the Main Jail at 651 I Street in downtown Sacramento. KCRA's initial coverage did not list any charges, and the sheriff's office had not released further details when that report was published.
